A Ryanair flight was forced to declare a mid-air mayday over Penrith last Friday evening (3rd October) as Storm Amy brought severe winds and heavy rain across Scotland and the North of England.
The Boeing 737-800, travelling from Italy to Prestwick, had made failed attempts to land at Prestwick, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports before diverting south to Manchester. As the aircraft passed over Penrith, battling 100mph winds and intense rainfall, the flight crew discovered their fuel reserves were critically low — prompting them to issue the midair “Mayday” call.
The mayday, transmitted using the emergency squawk code 7700, alerted Air Traffic Control that was tracking and communicating with the flight via the Great Dun Fell radar station, that the aircraft was in distress.
The crew landed the plane safely at Manchester Airport, with just 220kg of fuel left in its tanks enough for just 6 minutes of flight time
Following the incident, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) this week confirmed it has opened a formal investigation.
A spokesperson for the AAIB said:
“The AAIB has commenced an investigation into a serious incident involving an aircraft which was diverted from Prestwick to Manchester Airport on Friday 3 October. AAIB inspectors have begun making inquiries and gathering evidence.”
The incident occurred as Storm Amy disrupted air travel across the UK, bringing severe weather conditions that affected multiple airports and flight paths.
Image from Flightradar 24 showing when the cockpit crew issued the fuel emergency alert.
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